Unless the gun in question is an extremely rare and valuable collector's item, I'd open the chokes to suit my needs. When I got my 1918 vintage, 12-gauge Husqvarna 310AS it sported .038" right and .044" left chokes. I had Kearcher open it to .010" right and .020" left and it is a lot more useful to me. Might have been even better to go to .005" and .010".
My only experience with spreaders was a flat of 12-gauge 1 1/8 ounce #7 1/2 Spred-R shells I got when my old gun club that was closing auctioned off all our inventory. I patterned a few in my Father's tight choked 2-frame Parker Bros. 12-gauge and the patterns were very patchy. I shot them up at skeet with a variety of my tight choked 12-gauges that don't see the day light very often.
